Dragon Ball Online
Feb 5 2010 NA TBA 2010 |genre = Fantasy Science-Fiction Action MMORPG |modes = Multiplayer |ratings = |platforms = Windows |media = DVD |requirements = CPU: Pentium 4 2GHz, RAM: 512MB |input = }} Dragon Ball Online (Doragonbōru Onrain) (officially abbreviated as DBO) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game being developed simultaneously in Japan and South Korea by NTL, set in the Dragon Ball universe, first introduced by the Dragon Ball Japanese manga in 1984. Dragon Ball Online takes place on Earth, 216 years after the events at the conclusion of the Dragon Ball manga series. A beta testing of Dragon Ball Online was initially announced to begin in South Korea, during the summer of 2007, though development was delayed by a year and it was then scheduled to go live in Korea by the end of 2008, and in Japan in 2009 http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20080227/korea_21.htm. Further delays set in until April 2009 when closed beta testing began in South Korea . No North American release has been announced as of yet, though in a press conference held in South Korea on February 14th, 2008, NTL expressed interest in releasing the game to a worldwide audience.http://www.ntl-kk.com/dboreport.html Series creator Akira Toriyama has a great deal of creative control over the project, both contributing to and supervising the story and art design, including character and location arrangements. It has been stated that Toriyama has been working on character designs for this project for the last five years.http://www.ntl-kk.com/dboreport.html To date, it is possible to play the game's current development phase (Patch 1.0.15) through acquiring a Korean Netmarble account. It is reported that the Korean version of the game will be free to play with a cash shop. http://www.dbocom.com/forum/ Story Dragon Ball Online is set in 1000 Age, exactly 216 years after Goku left the 28th Tenkaichi Budokai to train Uub in 784, at the end of Dragon Ball Z. During this period time, a number of notable events have occurred; Majin Buu created a wife named Booby, and they soon have a son, thus the start of the Majin race on Earth; Namekians have fled to Earth after Miira attacked and destroyed their planet. Meanwhile, on Earth, many Humans have taken up advanced martial arts; some have trained under Krillin's revived Turtle School, Tien Shinhan's re-established Crane School, and Goten and Trunks' new Kikoukenjutsu Sword School; schools made popular due to Gohan's book, which explained ki control and martial arts. King Kai also taught the populous of Earth (Humans and Namekians) the Kaio-ken technique, and Majins have managed to mimic it. Also, what appear to be Yardrat have appeared in the Southern Galaxy, and most recently, a gulf formed in time.Dragon Ball Online Promotional Video The conflict in the story behind Dragon Ball Online is fueled by a villain name Miira, who has also enlisted remnants of Frieza's World Trade Organization and a human faction known as the Red Pants Army. The motives of Miira involve obtaining the DNA of Goku, and achieves his greatest goals through time travel and mind control. Mind controlled victims of Miira are characterized by a green gem placed on their forehead, and his minions range anywhere from cyborgs to mind-controlled Great Apes. When Dende learns of this threat, he enlists Time Patrol Trunks to stop him. *It is important to note that Dragon Ball Online ignores the events of Dragon Ball GT (i.e., Gohan writing Ground Breaking Science and the Z Fighters re-establishing/creating their respective schools) and even appears to contradict some aspects of the anime. One example being the Yardrat race, who did not appear in the manga, but look completely different in Dragon Ball Online ''than they did in their brief anime appearance. This may be explained by redesign, or their lack of appearance in the manga, as the game seems to depict characters as they originally were; (i.e. Trunks' purple hair, Korin's blue fur). Considering Akira Toriyama's participation in this project, it is possible that ''Dragon Ball Online will give a more canon conclusion to the events of the manga than Dragon Ball GT did. Gameplay As with other MMORPGs, players control a character avatar within a persistent game world, where they will be able to explore the landscape, search for the Dragon Balls, train to compete in the Tenkaichi Budokai, aspire to become like the warriors of legend, as well as interacting with NPCs and other players. As in most MMORPGs, players will be able to obtain money and experience which will allow them to level up and obtain new abilities. Players will also be able to participate in "Timemachine Quests", in which they will receive guidance from , in order to travel back in time and take part in notable aspects of the Dragon Ball history.Press Conferance 2008 gameplay demonstration To date, three playable races have been announced: Humans, Namekians, and the new Majin race. There are currently two core classes, one pertaining to physical damage while the other either to spiritual damage or a supportive caste, for each race. And for each core class, there are two optional master classes that give players access to stronger skills and weapons; making a total of 6 core classes and 12 master classes. Like in the manga, these races are capable of obtaining and undergoing transformations that grant them drastic increases in power; however, these transformations are obtainable only through reaching the required level of skill and wishing for them through collecting the Dragonballs. Players will revisit numerous detailed models of locations from the Dragonball manga, including Korin Tower, Kame House, and Fire Mountain. Players will also interact with other familiar NPCs, including those from the aforementioned locations and allies and enemies from the early Dragonball Z sagas, including Frieza and Vegeta. Items Players will have access to a wide range of weapons and items, some of which are exclusive to Dragon Ball Online. ''It is reported that weapons and armors are not limited to class, but race. Some items must be purchased from the upcoming cash item shop, like the Flying Nimbus and other means of transportation. The most common vehicle is the mountable bike, which hovers a few inches off the ground and is similar to the vehicle Bulma used in early chapters of the ''Dragonball ''manga. Not only are they faster and more convinient than running or repeatedly using ''Dash skill, but they can also travel across water.http://www.dbocom.com/guides.php?t=234 Scouters are a very common tool, which like in the original series, allows the player to read the power levels of not only other players, but enemy and ally NPCs as well. All Classes skills Although most skills in Dragon Ball Online are exclusive to class, among the skills that players can learn, there are few that are obtainable for every class of warrior: Dash: A short-ranged, but fast "boost" that can project players into any accessible direction. This skill virtually allows players to explore and travel the landscape faster, and in combat, can be used to gain ground or avoid close-ranged enemies. Guard: This skill puts the player in a guarding position, allowing it to block incoming attacks. The guard can only be broken with a powerful enough attacks or if the skill duration ends, which varies depending on the number of skill points added to Guard. Counter Attack: Once guarding an attack, a player can choose to counter and deflect the attack. Power Up: This allows players to accumulate RP while casting their skills, thus allowing them to use HTB skills more often. Dragon King's skills: Each time a player acquires the Dragonballs and summons Shenron (note: Dragon King), it can wish for one of six self buffs that will give a 25% increase to any of the following: Constitution, Dexterity, Soul, Energy, Strength, or Focus. These self buffs last for a total of 30 minutes and have a drastic cooldown period of two hours. Kaio-ken: A power up (or "fighting technique") originally created by King Kai, though used solely by Goku through the series. Kaio-ken's similar to how it was portrayed during Goku's use; a distinctive red, flaring aura; decrease in both health and energy; the ability to be multiplied. However, there are noticeable differences in the skill than how it was depicted in the series; the increase after its first multiplication is only to player's chance of landing critical strikes (which heightens with each time it is multiplied); Kaio-ken can only be deactivated once LP is low (although it drains both LP and EP); and has a six minute cooldown period. Playable races and classes In'' Dragon Ball Online'', there are various races existing in Dragon World, throughout the galaxy, and time and space. However, currently there are only three playable races (Humans, Namekians, and Majins), two core classes per each race, and two optional master classes per each core class. For example, a Martial Artist may additionally take on the Fighter '''or '''Sword Master class once obtaining the required level, as a Namekian Dragon Clan may become either a''' Dende Healer''' or a Poko Priest. A player's master class serves as a secondary career and gives the player access to stronger skills and items, and more rewarding quests. Also, it is worth noting that the techniques and principles of some core classes and some of the master classes were were founded and made public by notable warriors in Dragon Ball ''history, as explained below. [[Humans|'Humans']] - The original inhabitants of Earth. Prior to ''Dragonball Z's end, few humans had control over ki and were utterly defenseless against the many threats their planet had faced in the past. This changed after Groundbreaking Science was published, which introduced the world to the study of ki manipulation and fighting. Also, with the publishing of Groundbreaking Science came not only the revival of Master Roshi's Turtle School and Master Shen's Crane School, but the new Kikoukenjutsu Sword School as well. Earthlings are currently divided among three mainstream careers: martial artists, spiritualists, and engineers; and live in areas that pertain to their jobs. When reaching the required level of skill, Humans may undergo the Super Saiyan transformation (note: this is possibly a play on Goku's storyline, who was originally perceived as a human). Unlike the other race-only transformations (Great Namek and Pure Majin), Super Saiyans do not obtain Transformation-only ''techniques, however skills that have been learned in baseform are still accessible. * - Warriors that specialize primarily in martial arts rather than utilizing ki. Being a primarily melee class, Martial Artists generally focus on delivering damage within short range of their opponents. Once reaching the required level, a Martial Artist may choose to take on the Fighter or Sword Master sub-classes. :*'Fighter -''' The Fighter sub-class stays true to its Martial Artist roots and fights best at close range with use of a Rod weapon. Fighters may choose to learn powerful area-of-effect attacks (like Vegeta's Final Flash and Big Bang Attack) and supportive skills such as Instant Transmission and Solar Flare; however, their damage in sub-par to their master class counterpart, Sword Master. :*'Sword Master' - The Sword Master sub-class excels in delivering critical damage with powerful Sword strikes, and could be thought of as less supportive sub-class when compared to Fighters. A series of skills in the Sword Master skill tree gain an additional 50% of the damage dealt when performed from behind an enemy. Sword Masters are also shown utilizing the Kikoukenjutsu principle of manifesting ki through swords (i.e., the Gravity Break & Focused Gravity Break skills). * - Mystics who specialize in spiritual, ki-based techniques. Their physical damage is sub-par to any melee class and rely more on their ki. But their advantage in battle is firstly their range, and secondly their effect-causing debuffs. :*'Turtle Hermit -' The Turtle Hermit sub-class represents Krillin's re-established Turtle School. Warriors of this class are capable of delivering both physical and spiritual damage at both close and far distances with the use of a Rod weapon. Super Kamehameha, Krillin's Scattering Bullet, and an upgraded Consecutive Destructo Disk attack are parts of the Turtle Hermit skill tree. :*'Crane Hermit - ' The Crane Hermit sub-class represents Tien's re-established Crane School. Warriors of this class deliver high, area-of-effect spiritual damage through sacrificing their own life points, rather than EP. Crane Hermits utilize Fan weapons (similar to the Bansho Fan) that can deliver both spiritual and physical damage at long distances. * - Mechanics and inventors who build weapons and utilize technology. Although there has been word of the Engineer class prior to even the game's beta phase, it has yet to be released as a playable career. With its release, the Engineer class will be the third starting class available to Humans; making Humans the first of the three races to have more than two core classes. Also, since each of the races are already balanced with both a physical and a spiritual (Martial Artist and Spiritualist, in this case) starting class, it is unknown what type of damage Engineers will deal. Recent information reveals that the Engineer's master classes will be named Gun Maniac and Mech Maniac. Namekians - After their second home planet (New Namek) was destroyed sometime after the end of Dragonball Z by Miira, Namekians migrated to Earth. In Dragon Ball Online, Namekians are reported to live in deserted areas where they still live by their Namekian heritage; raising powerful warriors, summoners, and healers. Once reaching the required level, Namekians may obtain and undergo the a transformation similar to the Giant Form, known as Great Namek. During the Great Namek transformation, a Namekian will grow in size, thus causing their speed to decrease. A majority of the skill tree becomes unusable during the duration of the transformation, however transformation-exclusive skills can be learned that deliver high "area-of-effect" damage. * - Members of the Namekian support caste which have abilities that pertain to magic, such as Kami. Dragon Clan is noted to be the only core class that requires the player to have a weapon (Staff) equipped. This is the core of a Namekian that will branch off to either the supportive Dende Healer or the offensive Poko Priest, and in later levels, will learn King Piccolo's Antenna Beam, Energy Bullets, and other skills that deal spiritual damage. :*'Dende Healer -' The Dende Healer sub-class is a succeeding supportive caste to the Dragon Clan core class with powerful healing abilities, similar to Dende himself, and wield Scrolls on their backs in unison with their Staves. :*'Poko Priest -' The Poko Priest sub-class is a combat-related class that summons monsters to do their bidding, much like King Piccolo. Rather than buffs that heal, the Poko Priest skill tree provides numerous combat-related buffs that can be casted on not only their summons, but their party members as well. * - Members of the Namekian warrior caste, such as Piccolo. Warriors balance weak, long-raged spiritual attacks and average physical attacks, but in later levels (through acquring a master class), they may learn more powerful skills. Piccolo's Masenko, Charged Masenko, Special Beam Cannon, Mystic Attack, Mouth Energy Wave are a part of the Warrior skill tree. Warriors are balanced with decent strength, stuns and long-range energy attacks. :*'Dark Warrior -' The Dark Warrior sub-class is comparable to Piccolo's later stages and fight with metallic Claw weapons, which grant them access to stronger physical skills. :*'Shadow Knight - ' The Shadow Knight sub-class utilizes Axe weapons and can deliver critical, long-ranged spiritual damage. [[Majin|'Majins']] - A race created by Majin Buu, and ultimately the evil wizard Bibidi. The entire Majin race came from Majin Buu creating a female Majin sometime after Dragonball Z's end. In their Pure Majin transformation, they have access to the Planet Burst ''and ''Genocide Blast, two energy attacks with long range and short cooldown periods and the appearance of a Pure Majin is similar to those of Kid Buu. Contrary to early belief, the body type of a Majin is not determined by class, but rather by gender, with males having a large, fat body like Majin Buu and with females having a thin and more slender body like Kid Buu. * - Or "Wonder Majin" ''Techniques used by Wonder Majins that are canon to the series are Kid Buu's ''Imitation Kamehameha and Vanishing Ball, along with the Super Vanishing Ball variation; Super Buu's Galactic Donut and Special Human Genocide Attack. These warriors are the core of Majin caste's spiritual class. Their master classes are Karma Majins and Plasma Majins. Another notable Wonder Majin skill is Serene Focus, a self buff which restores a sum of lifepoints every few seconds for a total of set duration (depending on the level), similar to the Buu's regeneration ability. Play Dead, as the title suggests, allows the Majin to play dead for a short period of time. * - Or "Mighty Majin" These Majins have healing abilities that restore lifepoints and cure player effects like poison. Mighty Majins buffs pertain solely to defensive and have a balanced number of spiritual and physical attack, some with long range. Canon techniques are Candy Beam, Gotenks' Miracle Super Punch, and Majin Buu's arm-stretching Special Surprise Punch, and Provoke, a taunt deprived from Majin Buu. Some original physical damage-dealing Mighty Majins techniques are the Caramel Dropkick and Battering Armspin. When they reach the required level, they may obtain the Ultimate Majin '''or '''Grand Chef Majin master class. :*'Ultimate Majin - '''These Majin entertainers wield musical instruments for sub-weapons and excel mainly in meter buffs that enhance the area's stats. In fact, even with the HTB skills included, Mighty Majins do not receieve many offensive attacks from this master class. However, Ultimate Majin stat buffs complements their core class' decent hand-to-hand combat. :*'Grand Chef Majin -''' Majins with expert skill in culinary arts and wield maces as sub-weapons. Grand Chef Majins have buffs pertaining to spiritual damage, EP and its effectiveness and like the Ultimate Majins, their buffs can be casted throughout the player's areas and have less offensive attacks than Majins of the Wonder Majin ''caste. This master class is the only to obtain a form of Candy Beam; the ''Candy Beam Flash, which has the same immobilizing effects as the the regular version, but with armor-increasing stats. New characters :List still subjective so change, new characters will be added as they are revealed *'Unnamed Male Hero' - first revealed within opening cinematic released in May of 2010, this unnamed warrior does battle with an Unnamed Namekian Hero during the World Martial Arts Tournament while their friends (who are all new characters also not revealed) watch. He uses attacks such as the Kamehameha and can even transform into a Super Saiyan, meaning he is some unknown portion of both Saiyan and Human. *'Unnamed Namekian Hero' - first revealed within the opening cinematic released in May of 2010, this unnamed warrior does battle with an Unnamed Male Hero during the World Martial Arts Tournament while their friends (who are all new characters also not revealed) watch. He uses attacks such Scatter Shot and Makousen. *'Unnamed Male Swordsman' - first revealed within the opening cinematic released in May of 2010, he is shown within the group of new main heroes as a Human swordsman. *'Unnamed Female Heroine' - first revealed within the opening cinematic released in May of 2010, she is shown within the group of new main heroes as a Human female warrior. *'Unnamed Majin Hero' - first revealed within the opening cinematic released in May of 2010, he is shown within the group of new main heroes as a Majin warrior. Returning characters Below is a list of the original Dragon Ball characters and the new characters that have been confirmed to appear or be involved with Dragon Ball Online's story. Players participating in the open and closed beta have thusfar interacted with characters from the early Dragon Ball arcs, up to the villains from the Saiyan Saga. Main characters *'Goku' - Possibly deceased during main timeline of Dragon Ball Online. However, out of the reoccurring characters to appear in quests, Goku is seemingly the most constant. He also makes several appearances in production art and cutscenes. Early on in Dragon Ball Online, Goku appears throughout his infant, child, and adult depictions. Although this has not been confirmed, some of the techniques from the Fighter ''master class (Solar Flare, Instant Transmission) belong to Goku, and he may be the creator of this particular class. *'Vegeta''' - Possibly deceased during main timeline of Dragon Ball Online. In the game's official trailer, a group of time-traveling warriors arrive to help Goku combat Vegeta as he originally appeared in the Saiyan Saga. It's in this form that the players will initially face him in-game. *'Gohan '- Possibly deceased during main timeline of Dragon Ball Online. After the events of Dragonball Z, Gohan wrote the book Groundbreaking Science and introduced the principles of ki to the general public. The production of this book (along with Master Roshi's retirement) resulted in Krillin reviving the Turtle School, Tien making a Crane School of his own, and Trunks & Goten forming their own school based on sword mastery. Gohan has shown to make one appearance in Dragon Ball Online, and that's as a child when he first meets his father's arch-rival, Piccolo Jr. *'Krillin' - Possibly deceased during main timeline of Dragon Ball Online. After fighting alongside Saiyans and Namekians, Krillin understood that even the strongest humans didn't compare to their power. After Master Roshi's retirement, Krillin took up the responsibility of running the New Turtle School. His teachings would put emphasis on working together; believing that constant attack from multiple points could bring even the strongest warriors down. *'Time Patrol Trunks' - Time Patrol Trunks is the mediator of most of the players' missions. This depiction of Trunks is a time-traveler who was warned by Dende that Miira was causing chaos throughout time and space. Time Patrol Trunks has become devoted to this cause and often calls on the player to undergo missions. Early on in the players' quests, he appears and easily dispatches of a few cyborgs at the Kame House. Time Patrol Trunks uses a technique in his base state that appears to be the Burning Attack, but with blue energy instead. It can be concluded that he is Future Trunks. *'Trunks' - Possibly deceased during main timeline of Dragon Ball Online. After the release of Gohan's book, (present) Trunks & Goten founded the Kikoukenjutsu Sword School in their adulthood - years after the events that took place in the final episodes of Z. With their Saiyan powers, the two were able to create many powerful techniques that are used in the Martial Artists Sword Master class. Their discipline focuses on channeling spiritual energy through swords, and has become one of the most praised disciplines in Dragon World as of 1000 Age. Thus far, Trunks' most notable relation to swordsmanship is that he is possibly the present timeline's Future Trunks, who excelled in combat involving swords. Also, present Trunks was given Tapion's Sword in the non-canon film Wrath of the Dragon. *'Goten '- Possibly deceased during main timeline of Dragon Ball Online. After the release of Gohan's book, Goten & Trunks founded the Kikoukenjutsu Sword School in their adulthood - years after the events that took place in the final episodes Z. With their Saiyan powers, the two were able to create many powerful techniques that are used in the Martial Artists Sword Master class. Their discipline focuses on channeling spiritual energy through swords, and has become one of the most praised disciplines in Dragon World as of 1000 Age. Goten has shown an interest in swords since he was a young boy, in the film Wrath of the Dragon an eager Goten ask Trunks to let him hold the sword Tapion left him. Goten is also no stranger to swords, since his brother Gohan has been around swords his whole life. *'Piccolo Jr.' - Possibly deceased during main timeline of Dragon Ball Online. Piccolo has appeared on some production work and in a few cutscenes in Dragon Ball Online. Somehow Piccolo's techniques were passed on to the Namekians that fled to Earth; being the creator of many Warrior class spiritual attacks. *'Tien' - Possibly deceased during main timeline of Dragon Ball Online. After Tien learned of Goku's triumph over Kid Buu with the Spirit Bomb, he concluded the powerful ki attacks could destroy warriors as powerful as Majin Buu and even his evil counterparts. Since he defected from the Crane School to study under Master Roshi (but never graduated), Tien revived Master Shen's Crane School in his own right. *'Bardock' - In Dragon Ball Online, Miira went back in time and saved Bardock (in an alternate timeline). He then possessed Bardock to be his servant. In one of the time travel quests, the player has to battle this Evil Bardock. Bardock eventually returns to normal and betrays Miira and uses a kamikaze attack to seemingly kill Miira (although it is unknown whether he survived or not) but in the 5th time travel quest Towa does say Miira was killed . Bardock later appears to have somehow survived the explosion as he is seen in a later time travel quest, taking place on Planet Namek. Supporting characters & villains A series of minor characters from the original manga appear in Time Machine quests, including Chi-Chi, Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Korin, Ox King, Shenron, Grandpa Gohan, and Master Roshi. Players will battle enemies ranging from the Red Ribbon Army Saga's Buyon to mind-controlled Great Apes, and even the Saiyan Saga's Raditz and Nappa. References External links * [http://www.ntl-kk.com/dbo.html Official Japanese Dragon Ball Online Website] * News at ANN * 4games translated * Unofficial Dragon Ball Online Wiki Category:2009 video games Category:Dragon Ball games Category:Video Games